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The Haryana government has unveiled a two-pronged measure to create more space for housing in its cities by allowing plot owners to increase ground coverage as well as purchase additional floor area ratio (FAR).

This means the state’s urban spaces, particularly NCR cities like Gurgaon and Faridabad, will get both taller and more congested as the state rakes in a revenue windfall through sale of FAR.

The changes were announced through a new policy notified by the department of town and country planning (DTCP) on May 6.

The increase in FAR approved by the government is in the range of 0.35 to 0.80, depending on the size of the plot. Owners of large residential plots and those converted for residential use through change of land use certificates have also been allowed to increase ground coverage.

So, if a plot’s earlier FAR was 1.65 and is now 2, it means that for a 100 square meter plot, an owner who was allowed to build up to 165 sq m can now go up to 200 sq m.

“The FAR and ground coverage norms for residential plots being followed by DTCP were framed way back in 1977 and, with the passage of time, a need was felt to revise the same in view of the ever increasing housing demand in urban areas,” said additional chief secretary P Raghvendra Rao.

He said representations had been made to the government for revision of FAR and ground coverage norms from time to time. The government felt the demand was justified because land is scare and costly and more FAR will allow vertical growth.

“The objective behind revising the norm is to make intensive utilization of urban land and preserve agricultural land,” said a senior Huda official, adding acquisition of farmland over the years had strained the coffers of government agencies because of the high rates of compensation.

The additional FAR will be purchasable. “It will be applicable to licensed colonies and Huda sectors. The revenue generated through it will go to municipal corporations or Huda,” said a senior government official in Chandigarh.

The new norm will come in handy for MCG, which is in the process of taking over developed Huda sectors in the city. MCG will earn money through additional FAR in these areas.

Government needs to formulate policies and provide incentives to ensure more private sector participation if it has to bring its ambitious plan of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022 into reality, property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has said.

“The private sector can play a big role in affordable housing, most notably in terms of providing technological solutions, project financing and delivery.”

“Disruptive innovations on these fronts, with a specific focus on affordable housing, are the need of the hour,” JLL India chairman and country head Anuj Puri said.

The government thus needs to formulate policies for greater participation from the private sector.

He said given the complexity of the affordable housing conundrum in India, only a multi-pronged approach with equal weightage given to each element can hope to break the deadlock.

“Schemes for redevelopment and slum rehabilitation should be developed with incentives that generate sufficient returns for the developers, while simultaneously controlling the development density,” he said.

Mr Puri opined that a cost-benefit analysis of regulations should be carried out from a development perspective to ensure that schemes to facilitate affordable housing development are actually realistic and feasible.

Also, it is important to formulate guidelines that will identify the appropriate beneficiaries for affordable housing projects.

“This is critical, as the involvement of speculative investors in such projects defeats the whole purpose… The National Population Register and issuance of unique identities via the Unique Identification Authority of India will become crucial elements in identifying the right beneficiaries if they are linked with income levels,” he said.

Apart from this, the government also needs to innovate on micro-mortgage financing mechanisms to ensure a larger reach, streamline land records to improve planning and utilization of land, include mass housing zones in city master plans and also deploy well-researched rental housing schemes in urban areas.

“Housing for all by 2022 is indeed a workable vision if a determined and focused effort based on these solutions is employed – and it will definitely yield the desired results,” he added.

The revised layout plan of Sector 110 A has been approved by Huda, paving the way for allotment of alternative plots to oustees for the Dwarka expressway project and clearing a major hurdle in the way of the completion of the much awaited new corridor between Gurgaon and Delhi.

Huda officials said that with the green signal to the new plan, a draw of lots will be held at the end of next month to accommodate families displaced by the construction, said officials.

There are 528 houses in New Palam Vihar, Tekchand Nagar and Kherki Daula that are coming in the way of the project. According to the revised layout plan, 478 of these will get plots in Sector 110A while the rest will be rehabilitated in Sector 37C.

The department of town and country planning (DTCP) had sent the revised layout plan to Huda in the first week of March. “The layout plan has been approved with a few changes,” said planning officer Jaibir Sharma.

The plan states that the 478 plots will be built on 14.60 acre of land, while 17.89 acre will be reserved for open space and roads. A shopping complex will come up on 1.36 acre, a nursery school in 0.65 acre of land, whereas 0.2 acres will be reserved for religious activities. Officials said the plots will range from 550 square feet to 5,500 sq ft in size, with a large majority of plots being in the small category.

With the last major hurdle in the form of allotment of alternative plots now almost over, Huda expects the work on completion of the expressway to pick up pace.

The CM had set June 2016 as the deadline for completing the project, which has been held up due to land acquisition, because of which only 14.33 km of the 18 km road has been completed.

The Union urban development ministry on Wednesday released the Unified Building Bylaws, 2016. The revision of bylaws of the city comes after 33 years.

The revised bylaws, which make getting approval for building plans easier, mandate single window clearance for all building plans.

Single-window clearance for building plans would mean that the residents of the city would no longer have to run from one government agency to another to procure ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC). They can instead fill a single online integrated form and leave the work of getting NOCs to the local bodies.

Also, as per the revised Unified Building Bylaws, 2016 – released by the Union Urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu – any construction on a residential plot measuring up to 105 square meters (sq mt) will no longer need prior approval.

The owners of such plots can simply submit an application along with an affidavit, declaring all norms have been complied with.

Naidu said an overhaul of the existing bylaws was necessary as it will make obtaining approval for building plans ‘almost free of human intervention’. “People can make one single online application to concerned urban local body instead of approaching various agencies thereby reducing human interface and enabling approvals in just 30 days,” said Naidu.

The minister added that the bylaws would also ensure that approvals by external agencies – like Airports Authority of India, ASI, National Monument Authority, Delhi Fire Services, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and ministry of environment – are obtained by the local body rather than the applicant.

Ease in Building Plan Approval:

The new rules make it mandatory for civic bodies to issue building plan approvals within a month irrespective of the size of a plot. Also, no objection certificates for construction on big plots will be provided online.

Naidu said that the number of documents required to obtain building permit has also been reduced from 40 to 14, to ensure residents are not hassled. Also an automatic-fee calculator, integrated with online system of submission of building plans, will be made available on the websites of local bodies.

Green Clearances:

The new rules also waive off the requirement of green clearances from the Central government for individual projects on plots measuring up to 1.5 lakh sq mt. All buildings on plot sizes of more than 105 sq mt have to, however, conform to the green building norms – like water conservation and management and solar energy utilization – for obtaining sanctions.

Swachh Bharat:

The new bylaws also make it mandatory for all public buildings to have toilets for visitors.

“Owners of plots of more than 3,000 sq mt will have to construct public washroom complexes which will have access from outside, in addition to other mandatory sanitary requirements,” said Naidu.

Risk-Based Matrix:

The new bylaws require measures for ensuring safety in terms of provisions for structural design and earthquake disaster mitigation. “The objective of this analysis is that small buildings, with low-risk are approved quickly and high-risk buildings like malls, multi-storey or big complexes, are examined in detail,” a ministry official said. Under risk based classification, architects will be empowered to issue building permits for low risk residential buildings between 105-500 sq mt and very low risk godowns of up to 250 sq. mt.

For low risk and moderate risk buildings, local bodies will be required to grant permits within 10 to 20 days.

Other Provisions:

All buildings and facilities used by the public will have to make provisions for the needs of differently abled people, children and the elderly.

With the Union Budget 2016 setting the tone for the year ahead, the realty sector is optimistic that the reforms and announcements introduced will bear positive results and the sector will finally trudge along in the fourth gear. The biggest take away from the previous year was the performance of the commercial sector, which brought cheer for the real estate market. Hence, experts are hoping that the golden period of the commercial sector will continue this year as well.

The commercial real estate market comprises of office, retail and industrial segments. As we know, the IT/ITeS sector is a major occupier of office space in India and the government is taking significant measures to promote growth of the manufacturing sector as well. But the retail industry is not lagging far behind and can contribute towards this endeavor. Evolving consumer spending patterns and increasing disposable income levels, are redefining the country’s retail landscape. The market has become very dynamic in nature, with the industry stalwarts not only exploring new micro-markets but also reinventing themselves to keep up with the pace of growth in the sector.

Mapping the growth tale:According to Sunil Shroff, CEO, Viviana Mall, three have defined the key factors that have defined the growth story of the retail sector in the last five years are the growing young population; a significant rise in the working population and an increase in the income and purchasing power. “The retail industry has also benefited due to liberalization in the FDI policy, which in turn, has attracted international and global premium brands, thereby boosting the retail sector,” Shroff adds.

Experts are optimistic and feel India’s retail market is expected to grow manifold in the next five years and with the right support from the government, modern retail will move up the growth curve.

The modern retail market size in the MMR is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 23 percent, according to a report, ‘Think India. Think Retail 2016’, launched by Knight Frank India in association with Retailers Association of India (RAI).

“With the simultaneous growth in quality real estate and infrastructure, the Indian retail sector can prove to be a game-changer if developed in a planned manner, thus making it more competitive and organized,” says Rubi Arya, executive vice-chairman, Milestone Capital Advisors Limited.

Trial and Error:However, all has not been hunky-dory for the retail sector. Another significant highlight of the report was as of December 2015, the MMR had 33 operational malls and almost an equal number of malls have also shut down over the last two years. “The growth rate today however has stabilized and the malls, which have been doing consistently well for the last few years, continue to attract more footfalls with new brands tapping into the market,” points out Nirzar Jain, vice-president, Oberoi Mall. However, has this trend impacted the realty market adjoining the malls? Experts feel that property prices depend on numerous parameters like basic infrastructure, connectivity to the local transport spots, other social requirements, etc. The presence of malls and other retail zones is an added advantage to the buyer but there is no direct impact on property prices, except maybe rentals from such units, which will be higher.

The Indian retail sector has been undergoing structural changes for the last two decades and one of its significant achievements has been the robust growth in the e-tail sector. When the retail wave hit our country, the brick-and mortar sector had taken a backseat.Traditional retailers have repositioned.

Looking Ahead:A strong public infrastructure is the backbone of the retail industry. Hence, it is imperative that the retail sector is developed in line with the infrastructural development, in order to ensure equilibrium, especially in the urban areas. “I personally feel that the government should promote integrated townships in a big city like Mumbai.

Spanning hundreds of acres, this master plan will include independent houses, apartments, offices, shopping malls, cinemas, schools, hospitals and all other facilities that will make life easy for Mumbaikars,“ says Gulam Zia, executive director advisory, retail and hospitality, Knight Frank India. While the housing sector alone contributes approximately 5 to 6 percent to the country’s GDP, the other sub-sectors like commercial, hospitality sector, retail and others have also grown in parallel. The need of the hour is to develop each industry in a planned manner and themselves today. The price differentiator was the major point of contention between the online retailers and conventional retailers and over the years, we have tried to bring it down. Besides, the focus today is on customer satisfaction and creating an experiential market. The instant gratification of leaving a store with a purchase in-hand is unmatched and hence, the attempt is in order to achieve just that,” says Anand Sundaram, CEO, Pioneer Property Zone.

Experts feel that it is imperative to note that in an economy consisting of over 400 million internet users, four out of five consumers have never shopped online; hence, the availability of traditional outlets is a must.

“However, the e-tailing business has a direct impact on the commercial real estate space, due to large commercial offices and warehouses being leased rapidly across tier-I and II towns. Mumbai is looking towards a commercial leasing boom as more and more e-tailing businesses (products, payment gateways and logistics), are forming the bulk of such demand,” points out Arya.